Sample Papers
This page contains sample papers formatted in seventh edition APA Style. The sample papers show the format students should use to submit a course assignment and that authors should use to submit a manuscript for publication in a professional journal. If you are writing or publishing an APA Style paper in another context (e.g., for a dissertation), check with your instructor or publisher for additional formatting guidelines.
Sample papers from the Publication Manual
The following two sample papers were published in annotated format in the Publication Manual and are reproduced here for your ease of reference. The annotations draw attention to relevant content and formatting and provide users with the relevant sections of the Publication Manual (7th ed.) to consult for more information.
We also offer these sample papers in Microsoft Word (.docx) file format without the annotations.
Sample paper templates by paper type
These sample papers demonstrate APA Style formatting standards for different paper types. You can download the Word files to use as templates and edit them as needed for the purposes of your own papers. We plan to share additional sample papers and templates in the future, including more student sample papers.
Sample papers are covered in Chapter 2 of the APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition
This guidance is new to the 7th edition.
Sample papers in real life
Although published articles differ in format from manuscripts submitted for publication or student papers (e.g., different line spacing, font, margins, and column format), articles published in APA journals provide excellent demonstrations of APA Style in action.
APA journals began publishing papers in seventh edition APA Style in 2020. Professional authors should check the author submission guidelines for the journal to which they want to submit their paper to check for any journal-specific style requirements.
Credits for sample paper templates
Quantitative professional paper template: Adapted from “Fake News, Fast and Slow: Deliberation Reduces Belief in False (but Not True) News Headlines,” by B. Bago, D. G. Rand, and G. Pennycook, 2020, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149(8), pp. 1608–1613 (https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000729). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.
Qualitative professional paper template: Adapted from “‘My Smartphone Is an Extension of Myself’: A Holistic Qualitative Exploration of the Impact of Using a Smartphone,” by L. J. Harkin and D. Kuss, 2020, Psychology of Popular Media, 10(1), pp. 28–38 (https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000278). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.
Mixed methods professional paper template: Adapted from “‘I Am a Change Agent’: A Mixed Methods Analysis of Students’ Social Justice Value Orientation in an Undergraduate Community Psychology Course,” by D. X. Henderson, A. T. Majors, and M. Wright, 2019, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology. Advance online publication. (https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000171). Copyright 2019 by the American Psychological Association.
Review professional paper template: Adapted from “Joining the Conversation: Teaching Students to Think and Communicate Like Scholars,” by E. L. Parks, 2020, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology. Advance online publication (https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000193). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.